Antares bridles?

[RileysMom]

Hi all,

Shed some light this high-end bridle for me. I have an Antares saddle and this weekend bought their hunter bridle at Smartpak. Ended up returning it because as much as I wanted to like it (and the leather quality is outstanding), it’s weird. Orange padding that I hear won’t darken and it came with rubber reins. Their other hunter bridle (the origin) has buckles everywhere and Smartpak does not sell the matching reins, at all (which I also find befuddling). I suppose I could have ordered reins thru Antares, but I tend to be an immediate gratification kind of gal. Neither one really look like hunter bridles. I don’t show a ton, but if I’m going to pay that much I realized it needs to be versatile. Ended up with an ADT, which is very pretty (and a bit cheaper, too). But given how nice the rest of their tack is, why are these bridles weird (and by “weird” I mean called hunter bridles when they appear to be jumper bridles).

[BAC]

I don’t think the Antares people understand the concept of hunter tack. I bought mine years ago when they were still a fairly new item, but it was a very traditional type of hunter bridle with an ordinary cavesson and regular laced reins. You’e right, the leather is amazing, although I had no problem darkening the padding, it was a stunning bridle and I got lots of compliments on it. In recent years they changed the style of the headstall and noseband and I don’t like them at all.

[173north]

Working with a lot of European tack and apparel companies has really hammered home for me that hunters is an exclusively American sport with extremely different taste in bridlework, clothing, etc than the majority of the rest of the world. European companies often miss the mark when they aim to make a “hunter” piece for the US market because they aren’t fluent in those little details we know to be all-important. (You should see the truly wild show coats pitched to me at European trade shows as suitable for the hunters just because they’re navy!)

The companies who do it successfully lean heavily on an American on staff or their US distributor to get the details right - and I don’t mean via email or even sending samples, I mean they will fly them to the factory to help develop the product. The subtleties that go into what’s appropriate for hunters are meaningless to someone who doesn’t have extensive experience in American hunter/jumper barns.

Similarly, if the buyer for your tack shop doesn’t know those details, you’ll end up selling a “hunter” bridle with rubber reins!

[BAC]

OP, you can just ask Antares for the traditional reins, mine were identical to any other rein you would use on a hunter bridle, so they do have them (without buckles, they have the traditional hook/stud fastening), I just don’t think they realize they should use them with the hunter style bridle.

[mercedesva]

@RileysMom Antares does sell a different collection through Smart Pak then what is available through a sales rep. We have a beautiful hunter bridle designed by the team in the US specifically for the hunter market. With matching fancy stitched reins! I would be more than happy to send you photos and descriptions of the options. You can reach me at 540-338-8036 or ashley@antaressaddle.com

[Jumper_Princess1988]

I’ve got a LOT of older Antares stuff (bridles, martingales, stirrup leathers, girths - oh God I don’t want to count it all!)…and everything started off bright orange. Eeew. I ended up soaking most of it overnight in oil and it darkened up beautifully in the end (I use Hydrophane darkening oil). No more orange! Hello, dark chocolate